Emblematic place of Saint-Jean Pied de Port, this building called the Bishops' Prison comes from a local scholar who, at the beginning of the last century, brought the presence of Bishops of the diocese of Bayonne during the Great Western Schism at Saint-Jean Pied de Port in the Middle Ages closer to its role as a prison in the 18th century.
Situated in the rue de la citadelle, the original function of this building is still uncertain: commercial warehouse, fortified house?
Despite historical and archaeological research, a veil of shadow still envelops this building with its evocative name.
This current and recent name combines two distinct historical realities: the presence of bishops from the diocese of Bayonne during the Great Western Schism, and the penitentiary vocation attested to as early as the end of the 18th century.
Listed as a historical monument in 1941, the Bishops' Prison has now become a museum. The entrance opens onto a guard house followed by disciplinary cells. A narrow staircase leads to a vast medieval vaulted room.
A permanent exhibition evokes the paths to Compostela in the Middle Ages and temporary exhibitions are regularly proposed.
Bishops' Prison
41, rue de la Citadelle,
64220 Saint-Jean Pied de Port
Phone : 05 59 37 00 92
patrimoine@saintjeanpieddeport.fr
http://www.st-jean-pied-de-port.fr
